


in the bright sunlight

by Morgana_Ehran



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Artist!Stiles, Derek centered, Derek lives as a recluse, Gen, Implied Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Nature, Pre-Slash, Summer Ficlet, recluse!Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 11:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4262175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgana_Ehran/pseuds/Morgana_Ehran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek lives as a recluse and one day he meets Stiles who is camping on his lands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in the bright sunlight

**Author's Note:**

> It's summer and I have an urgent need to go hiking. But finals. And so this ficlet happened. It's just lil' feeling thingy. 
> 
> Not beta-readed. (And no, English is not my mother-tongue.)
> 
> I'm morganae on tumblr, I share lots of sterek and get emotional about them.

Derek woke up at eight every morning even though he didn’t have to. No boundaries, no obligations made him free to do anything but he liked some rules in his life. Laura had a timetable for every day and Derek was happy to follow because it kept him busy. It filled his time with some movement and noise so he had no time to listen to the thoughts he buried deep down in his mind. No regret, no sorrow, no blame. He just kept breathing, kept moving, kept going on. It worked well for him and he liked to make the timetables even now when Laura left him and this world. 

Derek woke up at eight a.m., tapping the top of his alarm clock firmly to turn it off but gently enough not to break it. He rubbed his hands over his face before walking to the bathroom. He took a piss, brushed his teeth and splashed his face with water. Derek ran his hand over his chin and decided the beard could grow some more yet, then he went into the shower. Derek never took too long. He wasn’t very keen on staying long in the water. Sometimes he would jerk off, if he felt like it but otherwise he spent just few minutes showering. 

After Derek had dried himself, he went to put on some clothes. It was summer now so there was no need for layers. He usually settled for boxers and tee. He walked down the stairs, his bare feet making gummy sounds against the wooden floor. In the kitchen, Derek put a kettle on (he didn’t have a coffee machine and he didn’t miss it – an espresso belonged to the civilization). While waiting for the water to boil, he went outside to look around his property. He sniffed on the air as the wind turned and found nothing strange. This was his soothing ritual. The world kept quiet and there was no danger. There was no one to stalk him, no one to attack him. As an Omega it was very bad idea to live as a recluse but it actually did good to Derek. He felt his powers weaken but he slept better. With no living soul miles around, he felt safe. He didn’t perk up at every noise anymore. He had got used to sounds of forest and mountains. 

Derek went back inside and made his coffee. Black, two sugar cubes. Then he pulled out a pan and put some ham and eggs on it. When he was done with cooking, he cut two slices of a bread to accompany his breakfast. He ate it outside, bathed in morning sunlight and slight chill. After he was done, he went back inside, leaving the dishes in a sink and put on some pants and socks. After breakfast he always went to check on the perimeter of his lands. It helped him to keep his mind in peace. A reassurance never hurt. Occasionally there were some of his neighbours, stealing woods from his property or picking up wild berries but otherwise it was mostly animals. Derek never took weapons with him, even though he owned a rifle. If he didn’t pick any strange scents beforehand, he didn’t bother. 

Derek only took his keys and his watch with him. Sometimes he took a bottle of water if he planned on walking for longer. As he looked up on clear blue sky, he decided it was going to be really hot really soon. Today was a bottle day. As soon as he filled one, he was ready to go. 

He glanced over his shoulder to check he didn’t left any windows open and then he left his cabin behind. It sat on a clearing near the edge of a hillside. He decided to buy the place the first time he had seen it and the cabin was half ruined back then. Derek rebuilt it alone. 

The air in the woods was clear, crisp and slightly moist, full of usual scents of the animals, the pines, the wood, dew, dirt. Derek took in deep breaths. While walking around woods he liked to list the things to do in his head. It was hot these days so there was no need to chop the wood. He had to do laundry though. He didn’t own much clothes and he had only one clean pair of boxers right now. The stove needed to be cleaned more properly. And the door to the bedroom croaked. There was no need to descend to the village to buy some groceries. His crops of vegetables were growing nicely. And soon it will be a season for cherries and peaches. Maybe he could sell them this year. Derek didn’t decide yet.

He started going uphill where trees were thicker. It was darker here but also quieter except for a small creek cutting through the woods. On the top of hill was another clearing where was beautiful view of the valley on the other side of the hill. Derek liked to take a break there. Sometimes he would go there and let his memories fill his mind. When he felt like it was too much to handle, he would shake his hands as if to let it all go away. It was his mother’s trick. Anytime one of her children was sad or angry, she would say: “Put it all in your palms. Do you feel them grow heavier? Yes – and now shake your hands. Shake it all off. Do you feel lighter now?” It was silly ritual but Derek did it anyway. He did feel lighter. Sometimes he meditated there if it was nice and calm day. 

Derek was getting nearer the clearing when the wind picked up. It was blowing downwards so it was easy to pick the scents it carried. He perked up immediately because he smelled something, something new. There was a human. Derek frowned. If people passed through his forest it was near the borders. His neighbours never dared to go deeper. He started to walk more quickly to get there and find out who was trespassing. 

In ten minutes he stood on a brim of the forest, peeking through the trees. On the edge of clearing sat a young man. He had a notebook propped against his knees and he was drawing. His gaze was set on the valley. There was a huge backpack near his side and things were spilling from it. Derek frowned. If he had food – very probable – it could draw unwanted attention of animals. There were no bears as far as he knew but they sometimes strayed from other woods. 

“Hey,” he shouted out as he stepped on the clearing. The guy screeched and jumped up, his hands flailing and the notebook falling from his lap. He turned his head over his shoulder quickly to look at Derek. He seemed to be in early twenties, with mop of brown hair, wide round eyes and funny upturned nose. 

“Dude, you scared me to death!” the young man huffed and scrambled up to his feet. He patted his legs and backside to get off the grass and picked up his notebook. He frowned at the grass as he looked for his pencil. Derek had to smile as he watched him flail. 

“This is a private property,” Derek said but there was no real heath in his words. The kid seemed harmless enough. He was probably one of those hipsters who watched _Into the Wild_ one time too often and decided to hike. According to his stubble he had to be backpacking for few days now. 

“Really? I must have missed the fence somewhere,” the guy snorted. He gave up looking for his pencil and put his notebook on his backpack. Then he straightened and looked directly at Derek. His face did funny thing as his eyes widened again and his lips parted. 

Derek lifted his eyebrows. 

“Uh, sorry for trespassing?” the guy said now and scratched the back of his neck. How he suddenly got all bashful Derek couldn’t comprehend. 

“I don’t really mind as long as you don’t leave any trash behind,” Derek shrugged because really, it was no big deal. If the kid wasn’t going to pull off a frat party in his woods, it was fine. And as he was obviously alone, there was no real danger of it. 

“Yeah, sure,” he nodded eagerly, “that’s no problem.” 

“Good,” Derek nodded. They stood there for a moment, awkward silence stretching between them. Derek had no reason to stay except he barely met strangers on his lands. “You artist or something?” he pointed at the notebook. 

“Oh!” the guy turned around and glanced at his notebook as if he forgot about it. “Yeah… or something. I’m trying to perfect my pencil skills. I spent too much time with graphical programmes. It’s good to go back to the roots.” He grinned now and put his hands in his pockets. He rocked on the balls of his feet. “Are you checking your lands on daily basis?”

“Yeah, actually,” Derek admitted.

“Wow, you must be pretty bored,” the guy said, blinking at him and shaking his head. Derek just shrugged.

“You live here or something?” 

Derek hesitated for the moment before nodding. 

“Wow. So cool! Wait, you’re not some psycho murderer, are you? Because my dad is sheriff and he wouldn’t be pleased if he found my body buried in the woods. And believe me, he would find it,” the guy eyed him with concern now. Derek had to laugh despite himself.

“No. Not a murderer,” he shook his head. Technically, he wasn’t lying. The fire was his fault but he wasn’t one who set it. He shook his hands before putting them in his pockets, mimicking the guy’s gesture.

“Good,” the young man nodded, smiling a little, “you look like you could strangle someone, that’s for sure,” and he motioned to Derek’s arms where his muscles stood out nicely. Derek didn’t miss the way the guy ducked his head and how he blushed. Derek smirked to himself. 

“I never did, funnily enough,” he replied dryly which made the guy laugh. 

“So… is it okay if I stay here a while? I like the scenery and I’d like to do few more sketches,” the guy spoke up.

“I don’t mind,” Derek retorted. “Just clean after yourself and don’t burn my forest down.”

“Will do,” the guy nodded. “I mean, I won’t! I won’t burn it down!”

Derek grinned again. The guy’s words weren’t as funny as the way he said it. He had very expressive body language, his hands were always in motion but Derek could tell it wasn’t a pose. The guy just had no control over his limbs. 

“Good,” he nodded. “Well… have a nice day…” 

“Stiles,” the guy motioned towards himself.

“Derek,” he said in reply before he could stop himself. But he didn’t think he’ll meet the guy – Stiles – again. 

“All right. So, uh, nice to meet you, Derek?” Stiles gave him awkward wave.

“Likewise,” Derek nodded and gave him small smile. Stiles returned it and picked his notebook again. He settled on the ground and started to rummage through his backpack, presumably to find another pencil. 

Derek turned away to leave the clearing. Before he was out of sight he looked over his shoulder. Stiles was facing the valley again and the sun was making his hair bright auburn. Derek smiled to himself and ran down the hill.


End file.
